BgK
sea anemone toxin
BgK is a neurotoxin found within secretions of the sea anemone Bunodosoma granulifera which blocks voltage-gated potassium channels, thus inhibiting neuronal repolarization.
Etymology
The neurotoxin was named BgK, with the Bg representing the Latin taxonomy (Bunodosoma granulifera) of the specific sea anemone from which the toxin was found, and the K standing for the chemical symbol for potassium due to its observed effects on K+ channels.
Sources in nature
BgK can be found in the mucus of Bunodosoma granulifera, a common sea anemone found along the coasts of Cuba. Since it is a contracting sea anemone, it has two forms based on the position of its tentacles: open and closed. BgK is released when the anemone is in the closed form, a position it assumes during the day or during times of agitation. In this form, the anemone’s tentacles retract, releasing a mucus from a fibrous matrix found in the mesoglea, a space between the ectodermis and the gastrodermis. For every gram of freeze-dried mucus, there is 0.5 mg BgK.
Chemistry
BgK is composed of 37 amino acid residues, and three disulfide bonds. The neurotoxin belongs to a family of toxins found within 3 different sea anemones. The two other anemone/toxin combinations are: Stichodactyla helianthus and ShK; Anemonia viridis and AsKs. All three of these toxins have an affinity to dendrotoxin sensitive potassium channels that are found within rat brain membranes.
“BgK” enters the record as sea anemone toxin. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what anemone and toxin can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“BgK” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, anemone and toxin provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 17, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q25323775. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “BgK”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow BgK primary sources, BgK archive and anemone research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “BgK”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “BgK” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.